Gonzales council rejects general-fund measure, approves most other 2026–27 budgets and utility rate changes

The Gonzales Mayor and City Council failed to adopt the city’s 2026–2027 general fund budget after a split roll call, but approved most other budget measures and utility rate increases at its April 27 regular meeting.

Councilman Williams proposed an amendment to reduce the administrative-salaries line by $200,000, saying the change would allow the council to better target future amendments after reviewing staffing needs. Staff said the general fund stands at about $22.7 million, making the proposal less than a 1 percent change; the amendment received no second and died on the floor. A subsequent roll-call vote on ordinance 4288 recorded Williams and Councilman Turner voting Yes and Councilman Victor, Councilwoman Cynthia Gray-James and Councilwoman Landry voting No, causing the ordinance to fail.

The council moved on to final votes on other budget items. Ordinance 4289, the 2026–2027 utility fund budget, passed on roll call with all members voting in favor. The council also approved ordinance 4290 (capital outlay), ordinance 4291 (wastewater impact fees budget), ordinance 4292 (Tanger Mall economic development district budget), and ordinance 4293 (Conway economic development district budget). Ordinance 4294 (Pace Center economic development district budget) failed after roll call.

Council members debated ordinance 4295, an amendment to the 2025–2026 operating budgets, which staff said was proposed to comply with state budget law whenever a department or line item is projected to exceed 5 percent. Several members, including Councilman Eudey Jr., pressed for departmental breakdowns of overtime and related numbers; the motion to amend failed on roll call.

The council also approved ordinance 4296, amending Chapter 20, Article 3, Section 45 (water service rates), and ordinance 4297, amending Chapter 20, Article 4, Section 84 (sewer service rates). Roll calls on both rate ordinances resulted in unanimous Yes votes from members present.

During public comment, retired police chief Bill Landry urged the council to preserve a long-standing $200-per-month retiree stipend and suggested letting the stipend 'die with attrition' rather than eliminate it immediately; he said he did not have exact counts but estimated about 20 retirees receive the benefit. Council members and staff clarified that retiree expenditures appear under the health-insurance line and that the retiree Medicare stipend ordinance was introduced and will receive a final vote at a later meeting.

The meeting closed with routine engineering and public-works updates and an adjournment motion.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance 4288 (2026–2027 general fund budget): Failed. Roll call — Williams: Yes; Victor: No; Cynthia Gray-James: No; Turner: Yes; Landry: No. - Ordinance 4289 (2026–2027 utility fund budget): Passed. Roll-call majority Yes. - Ordinance 4290 (capital outlay budget, as amended): Passed. - Ordinance 4291 (wastewater impact fees fund budget): Passed. - Ordinance 4292 (Tanger Mall economic development district budget, as amended): Passed. - Ordinance 4293 (Conway economic development district budget): Passed. - Ordinance 4294 (Pace Center economic development district budget): Failed. - Ordinance 4295 (amendments to 2025–2026 operating budgets): Failed. - Ordinance 4296 (water service rates, ch. 20 art. 3 sec. 45): Passed. - Ordinance 4297 (sewer service rates, ch. 20 art. 4 sec. 84): Passed.

Next steps: The retiree-Medicare-stipend ordinance (introduced at this meeting) will return for a final vote at a subsequent meeting; staff also said they would provide requested departmental breakdowns for proposed operating-budget amendments.